For His Honor (For His Pleasure, Book 4)

Kane Wright told Nicole to meet him at his club, Venture, located in the Meatpacking District. Danielle wanted to go with her to make sure she was safe, but Nicole told her to stay home.

“Who will call the cops if both of us go missing?” Nicole asked her. That shut Danielle up temporarily.

But as the taxi had pulled up outside the apartment and Nicole readied herself to leave, Danielle stood in front of the door. “This is a really bad idea. Why are you still fighting for him, Nic?”

Why am I still fighting for Red?

She didn’t bother trying to answer, because there was no answer—at least, nothing that would satisfy Nicole’s overprotective roommate. Nicole was fighting for Red because she had no choice, and because despite everything, she still knew that he loved her and would have done it for her had the situations been reversed.

The taxi ride was long and the neighborhoods got worse and worse as they closed in on the address for the club.

Finally, just when they reached the most run down, desolate spot of all, the cab slowed and the driver announced that they’d arrived.

Standing outside Venture, Nicole was regretting that she didn’t have Danielle by her side. The cab took off before she had a chance to ask the driver to wait a moment until she was safely inside.

The street around her was empty, and she was surrounded by urban decay—

buildings that looked unused, crumbling. She thought there were likely several thriving crack houses in the area.

The club itself appeared to be closed, but she could hear the steady thump of industrial music coming from within.

Palms sweaty, heart racing, Nicole tried to open the door and found it locked. She pounded on it a few times with her fist. “Hello?” she called out, feeling like an idiot.

A moment later, the door swung open and a man in a skintight dark t-shirt stared her down. He was pale, so pale that she was sure he must be an albino. Or was he just a weird guy pretending to be an albino? Either way, Nicole decided he creeped her out in a major way. His pale eyes were like two glinting white marbles in his head.

“Yessssssss?” he asked with an odd, lopsided grin.

“I’m here to see Kane Wright,” she told him.

“Oh, honey,” he clucked, shaking his head at her. “I don’t think he wants to see you.”

“He’s expecting me.” She tried to stand her ground, even as everything in her told her to just run away as fast as she could.

The albino made a screwy face as if he really and truly couldn’t comprehend the notion that Kane Wright would want anything to do with a girl that looked like her. “If you’re wasting my time, I’m going to make sure you regret it.”

Despite the man’s flamboyant manner, Nicole sensed that he was a dangerous person. For one thing he was muscular, wiry—and he also looked like he’d been in a lot of altercations in his time. Pale, thick scars were visible on his neck, his cheek, and one scar ran the length of his bicep.

“I’m not wasting your time,” she told him. “But you’re wasting Mr. Wright’s time, and I wonder if he’d like that.”

The albino man grinned at her again, a leering, greedy look. “You better hope you’re truly a guest of Mr. Wright’s honey. For your own sake.”

She crossed her arms as he closed the door and disappeared back inside. Nicole once again considered turning around and getting the hell away from this place, but before she could convince herself to do it, the door opened once more.

The albino man was back, with a severely altered attitude. “We should hurry,” he said, the grin wiped from his face. “Come with me.”

Nicole tried to restrain a smile.

Inside, she could more clearly hear the thump-thump-thump of the base from that industrial music. The halls were dark and foreboding, the dim strobe light blinking off and on, and as they walked, she was aware of shadowy people watching her pass by.

She could feel their eyes on her, watching her, thinking god only knew what about her.

Bare chested men, semi-naked women, tattooed, clad in leather—these were the people that inhabited Club Venture.

The albino man led Nicole into a stairwell, and as they walked into it, she heard moans and groans and slurping sounds bouncing and echoing off the walls. The sounds came from a flight below—what must have been the basement level. It could have been a couple or it could have been five people down there, and Nicole didn’t care to know which it was.

They started to climb the stairs.

On the second floor, the albino stopped and led them out of the stairwell, into another long hallway with doors on both sides. “Go all the way down to the last door on the left,” he told her. “Give a knock and Mr. Wright will let you in.”